8mi Chapter 411: Repairing the Warrior Talisman
Chapter 411: Repairing the Warrior Talisman
The contingent from Yuhuai Mountain left, but Ju’an Pavilion did not quiet down. Instead, it became even more lively, with the small characters making a noisy commotion even as they spoke in hushed tones.“Oh my god, I was so suffocated!”
“Me too!”
“That strange old man is really sharp; he almost discovered us.”
“That’s Ju Yuanzi. That Master has written several books of Edicts, of course he’s impressive!”
“Oh, I remember now, it was him!”
Another small character flew to the table and hovered there, looking at the clean plates on the table, shouting excitedly.
“These people can really eat; they finished the whole table of food.”
“Yes, yes, not a drop of soup is left!”
“And the worst part is that they didn’t even wash the dishes! Are they leaving them for the master to wash?”
“Yeah, they’re so bold!”
“That’s right, let’s storm Yuhuai Mountain and bring them back!”
“Storm Yuhuai Mountain!”1
“Storm Yuhuai Mountain!”
“Are you all stupid…?”
“Who are you calling stupid?”
“You, you, and you too!”
“Ahhh!”
“Waaah, hey, hey!”
A group of tiny calligraphy spirits darted and jumped around in the yard, while the little paper crane watched and listened intently.
Ji Yuan, on the other hand, took a tray and started collecting the plates, ignoring the noise in the courtyard.
Fortunately, Ju’an Pavilion was secluded. The presence of the rewritten plaque and the jujube tree was also fortunate. Otherwise, even if these little characters had kept their voices down, they might still have disturbed others in the middle of the night.
Ji Yuan waved away the group of small characters who wanted to help carry the plates into the basin, and stacked all the dishes himself. Then he put away the cups and chopsticks.
Ji Yuan glanced up at the little paper crane, smiled helplessly, and then carried the tray back to the kitchen. Soon after, a whole group of small characters lined up and entered the kitchen together.
Washing dishes was actually quite easy for Ji Yuan, and he didn’t need to use any supernatural techniques. He filled the basin with water, lightly wiped a plate, and all the dirt slid off along with the water. The whole process was as simple as lifting the dishes directly from the water and washing them.
When Ji Yuan got up and glanced around, the group of small characters who had gathered around him immediately scattered back into the courtyard, chattering and arguing again. There were several “battlefields” for their arguments, and the topics they were arguing about varies.
“Hey, haha…”
Ji Yuan chuckled, stretched his limbs, and walked directly to the bedroom, then closed the door.
“The Master needs to rest!”
“Shh…”
“Shh…”
“Shh…”
…
The yard fell silent, just like a television being muted. It felt quite surreal, but that was not all.
The little characters had already figured out a way to communicate silently; after all, they were characters, and their very purpose was to express meaning.
So they quickly split into two or three large camps, forming various suitable phrases to argue with each other as if by telepathy. Although the phrases were few and there were no profanities, they still had a great time.
The little paper crane also shifted its observation point to the tree, watching the commotion below like a general looking over a military formation changing on a sand table, occasionally flapping its paper wings, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Inside the room, Ji Yuan was still awake. He took out the cutting tools that had been left in the room years ago and the stack of intact yellow paper. The lightning tribulation had destroyed two golden-armored warriors, but he was not in a hurry to replenish their numbers. Instead, he wanted to do some repairs.
Although the prototype of the Golden Armored Warrior looked like a talisman, there were still some differences in its essence. In particular, Ji Yuan had discovered something after using it for so many years.
In truth, the Golden Armored Warriors felt more and more comfortable to summon with repeated use. In other words, the same six Golden-Armored Warriors would feel different when they were first forged, as opposed to after a period of use: the warriors would gradually adapt to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Furthermore, the hundreds of movements that were originally superimposed would become increasingly skillful and fluid, just like how a person would become proficient through practice. After that, new movements could be cut into figures and gradually added to the already formed Warrior Talismans, thereby improving their fundamental quality.
Ji Yuan wasn’t sure if it was because of the number of layers of paper in his Golden-Armored Warriors, or if it was the crafting process, or if it was because they had specifically been crafted by him, but this process definitely wouldn’t work with the original rudimentary warrior talismans.
In this way, Ji Yuan effectively avoided the problem of the warrior talismans being prone to failure after having condensed a large number of layers, and thus continued to improve the existing Golden-Armored Warriors.
Between quantity and quality, Ji Yuan chose to focus on quality while maintaining a suitable quantity. This resulted in the number of golden-armored warriors in Ji Yuan’s hands gradually doubling.
He had actually lost two Golden-Armored Warriors before. Looking back, Ji Yuan still felt quite heartbroken.
After a moment’s recollection, Ji Yuan took out another Golden-Armored Warrior Talisman from his sleeve.
The yellow paper warrior talisman in his hand felt extremely rough, with some scorch marks on the edges and a deep color that looked like it had been slightly baked. It was the very same talisman that Ji Yuan had used to withstand the first heavenly lightning strike during the tribulation, and it was also the first golden-armored warrior that Ji Yuan ever crafted.
Ji Yuan could sense that the warrior was not damaged, but the impact was definitely significant. Its condition was very unstable, to the point that he dared not summon the warrior, fearing that the warrior talisman would break after one single use, turning it into a disposable item.
After examining it for a while, Ji Yuan began to cut the yellow paper with scissors. As he cut, he channeled his spiritual energy an divine will into the paper, visualizing the movements and majesty of the golden-armored warrior.
Soon a piece of paper was cut out. HIs left hand held the previous talisman in place, while his right hand formed sword fingers. He held the newly cut paper figure close to the warrior talisman, gently pressing down on it, and focused his mind on the fusion.
With a sizzling hiss, black smoke rose up, and the paper immediately turned charred black before turning to ashes.
‘If it doesn’t work… I’ll try again!’
Ji Yuan refused to believe in superstitions and started cutting again. This time, he spent a considerable amount of time visualizing all 324 movements and intentions from the beginning, and then repeatedly brought the charred warrior talisman closer to the cutouts.
In the latter half of the night, the entire bedroom reeked of burning paper, and countless specks of ash and black residue littered the floor. As for the talisman on the table, it remained unchanged.
Ji Yuan frowned as he looked at the Warrior Talisman on the table, unsure of what to do with it.
Because of Ji Yuan’s efforts late into the night, the room had been filled with electric lights and the smell of burning. The little characters and paper crane outside gradually realized that the master was not asleep, but was probably busy with something.
So they all gathered around the doors and windows outside, exchanging whispers and rustling sounds.
Ji Yuan, who was inside the house, was naturally unaffected, but he still had a bit of a headache.
It was perfectly conceivable that after experiencing that kind of baptism under heavenly lightning, even if it was just the first strike, would leave the understanding that this was no ordinary heavenly lightning. If this golden-armored warrior’s talisman could repar the damage, then it would be extraordinary. It would be a great pity to destroy it like this.
The sound of the Green Vine Sword rang out beside him. Ji Yuan looked up and saw the Green Vine Immortal Sword gracefully fly in front of him and quietly float on the table.
As the humming of the Green Vine Sword rang out, all the small characters outside immediately fell silent and pressed themselves tightly against the doors and windows, not daring to move. They did indeed respect Ji Yuan the most, but in truth, what they feared most was this immortal sword.
The Green Vine Sword inside the house wasn’t humming because of the noise outside. At this moment, the entire sword, including its scabbard and hilt, emitted a faint glow. As Ji Yuan’s attention shifted to the immortal sword, the last four characters on the scabbard dimmed, while the light of the four characters “Spirit nurtures the green vine” became particularly bright.
Ji Yuan slapped his forehead and finally laughed.
“I’ve fallen into a dead end of my own imagining! Heavenly lightning belongs to the wood element. Although the lightning tribulations all differ, they all carry their own meanings. You nurture a wood-element spirit, possess the sharpness of metal, and carry the energy of spring. You have both the ability to generate and restrain. You are the perfect sword to break the deadlock!”
The sword’s cry rang out again, its clear sound echoing endlessly.
Ji Yuan stood up and pointed his right hand, still making sword fingers, at the Green Vine Sword.
With a crisp “ding,” a soft white light rippled across the sword. However, this seemingly gentle light was extremely sharp. The remnants of charred paper that had been partially destroyed on the ground instantly turned into dust. Fortunately, the tables, chairs, and other items remained intact.
But when the white light rippled onto the table, the Warrior Talisman on the table shook violently, as if it had been blown by a strong wind or affixed to the table with nails.
A faint crackle of electricity appeared on the Warrior’s Talisman, making Ji Yuan narrow his eyes. He couldn’t help but exclaim.
“It even contains the essence of lightning!”
The next moment, Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes and then opened them slightly. With a flick of his sword fingers, the floating Green Vine Sword turned around, following his movements. The tip of the scabbard pointed downwards at the Warrior Talisman, and the spiritual light on the sword blade gradually became stronger.
Ji Yuan took a deep breath and searched for that intuitive sense of rhythm in the flickering lightning of the Warrior Talisman.
At the very moment the lightning struck , Ji Yuan hooked his finger downwards, and the Green Vine Sword also pointed downwards at the same instant.
“Strike.”
The scabbard struck the table with a muffled thud. A blue spiritual aura flowed from the tip of the scabbard, sweeping across the Warrior Talisman. Some of the light merged with it, while the vast majority returned to the Green Vine Sword after swirling around for a few seconds.
The talisman on the table changed: the scorched marks on the edges turned to ash and gradually fell off little by little, before eventually relvealing a slightly pitted human-shaped talisman.
“Hooh…”
Ji Yuan let out a slight breath. Although the damage to the Warrior Talisman seemed to be more severe, the feeling of instability, like it was about to collapse, had greatly diminished.
“Let’s try again!”
Ji Yuan’s confidence surged. He sat down at the table again, then picked up the scissors and yellow paper. The Green Vine Sword slowly flew up and remained quietly beside Ji Yuan.
As dawn broke, another layer of ash and debris covered the floor of Ji Yuan’s bedroom, but Ji Yuan himself was in good spirits and had a smile on his face.
In his hand, Ji Yuan held a perfectly intact Warrior Talisman. This talisman was no longer the yellow paper it had been before, but rather had a dark, dull color, like dark, saturated gold. It also felt slightly heavier than before, though to an ordinary person it would still feel like a piece of paper.
“Finally, I succeeded!”
T/n: … um. What. That escalated fast.